stuffed sweet potatoes

Like almost everyone else in the world, I am obsessed with pinterest. It takes up much of my time sitting on the couch. I believe I am an obsessive-pinner! HAHA.

Either way, I saw this picture of stuffed sweet potatoes and thought “HOLLA”! Seriously, I did. In fact, I may have even said it out loud. Don’t judge me.

I skipped over to the farmers market and got a few sweet potatoes and came home to recreate this awesomeness! It was good but my sweet potatoes were bigger so it took way more time than 45 minutes to get them soft enough. Next time I'll know and plan more time for them! We just had them after dinner. haha :) To be honest, I was more excited because they were pretty!!

Enjoy!

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Source: Sweet Peas Kitchen

What you need-

6 large sweet potatoes
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
6 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup toasted pecan pieces, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup miniature marshmallows

What you do-

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the pecans onto a baking sheet and place in preheated oven 5-7 minutes until fragrant. Shake the baking sheet halfway through baking so the nuts will toast evenly. Remove nuts from oven and set aside to cool completely. Turn the oven up to 400 degrees F.

Wash the sweet potatoes, scrubbing them well to remove any dirt. With a fork, prick the sweet potatoes in a couple of spots and place them on a sheet pan. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center goes in easily. Remove from oven and let stand until cool enough to handle but still very warm.

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and push the ends towards the middle so it opens up. Scoop out flesh and place in medium bowl, being careful not to tear skin. Reserve skins.

In a large bowl, mix 3tablespoons butter and brown sugar together until it’s crumbly-looking. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and half of the pecans. Divide mixture in half. Add half of the mixture to the sweet potato flesh and fold in completely. Add the filling back to the potato skins and place on baking sheet.

To the remaining brown sugar mixture, add 3 tablespoons butter and flour. Mix until crumbly looking. Top sweet potatoes generously with the brown sugar mixture and marshmallows and return to the oven. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until the marshmallow topping is golden brown.

banana bread

I know I have been absent lately from here…just been so overwhelmed and stressed! So, sorry for being slack!

I recently had a few bananas that were going bad so I thought I HAD to make banana bread with them! I hadn’t made banana bread before so I searched for a recipe that looked quick and easy. Thank the good Lord for the Internet because I found exactly what I was looking for!! The Fresh Loaf had a 10 minute banana bread that sounded super easy and obviously quick!

I thought that it might not turn out that great since it was so easy but I was very happy to see a fabulous looking loaf once baked and then when we ate it I was even more excited to find out that it was DELICIOUS!!

I have a few bananas that are ready to make this bread again. I am going to make a few loaves and freeze them…perfect for a quick breakfast when I’m running late (which is every day!)

Banana Bread
Makes 1 full-sized loaf or 2 small loaves

Preheat the oven to 350.

In one bowl, combine:

1/2 stick (4-5 tablespoons) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 or 3 very ripe bananas
2/3 cup sugar

Use a potato masher, fork, or spoon to squish the banana and mix the ingredients together. It is alright for there to be small (1 centimeter) chunks of banana in the batter, but you want most of the banana to be reduced to mush.

In another bowl, combine:

1 1/3 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until the ingredients are blended together.

If you like, stir in additional ingredients here, such as chopped walnuts or pecans, dried cherries or apricots, or chocolate chips. A handful (about a half a cup) is about right.

Pour the dough into greased baking pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Small loaves take around 30 minutes, a normal-sized loaf takes around 50 minutes.

Remove from the oven.

After cooled for 5 or 10 minutes the loaves can be removed from the pan to cool. Once they are cool they can be individually wrapped and frozen.

Great warm or cold! Whatever works for you :)

ENJOY!

xoxo.
manda